Indoor unit of air conditioner and air conditioner

ABSTRACT

An indoor unit of air conditioner, and the air conditioner are provided. The indoor unit includes a human detection sensor for detection of a predetermined range, and a plurality of desired ranges by using general purpose human detection sensors and lenses. The indoor unit of air conditioner includes a plurality of outlet ports through which air is blown to an interior of a room in different directions, and a human detection unit for detecting a human in the room. The human detection unit includes a plurality of human detection sensors installed in the plurality of outlet ports correspondingly, and lenses provided for the human detection sensors, respectively. The plurality of human detection sensors detect ranges corresponding to the different outlet ports, respectively.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner,and the air conditioner.

BACKGROUND ART

JP-A-2011-174693 (Patent Literature 1) discloses background art in thetechnical field of the invention. The publication discloses as follows.“To effectively detect information in each outlet area in aceiling-mounted indoor unit of an air conditioning device provided witha casing having a plurality of outlets, and a sensor for detecting theinformation in an air-conditioned room, the ceiling-mounted indoor unit4 for the air conditioning device 1 is mounted in a ceiling of theair-conditioned room, and has the casing 51 and a plurality of humandetection sensors 62 a-62 d. The casing 51 has the plurality of outlets56 a to 56 d through which the conditioned air is blown into theair-conditioned room. The human detection sensors 62 a to 62 d areprovided in the casing 51 so as to correspond to the outlets 56 a to 56d, respectively, and detect presence or absence of humans in theair-conditioned room. Detection areas A, B, C, D for the respectivehuman detection sensors 62 a to 62 d are aligned with outlet areas A′,B′, C′, D′ to which the air flow of the conditioned air blown out fromthe outlets 56 a to 56 d reaches.” (see Abstract).

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: JP-A-2011-174693

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The method disclosed in Patent Literature 1 requires the use of theexclusive human detection sensor or the human detection sensor lens inorder to acquire the detection areas of the respective human detectionsensors adapted to the outlet area to which the flow of the conditionedair blown from each of the outlets reaches. In other words, the use of aplurality of human detection sensors requires the exclusive humandetection sensors or exclusive human detection sensor lenses forcovering those sensors, leading to increased cost. The aforementionedconfiguration cannot be applied to the other air conditioning systemhaving another outlet area. For example, the human detection sensor orthe human detection sensor lens exclusive to the air conditioning systemhaving four outlet areas cannot be applied to the air conditioningsystem having two outlet areas.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an indoor unit of anair conditioner, which includes a human detection sensor configured toensure detection of a predetermined range, and detection of the desirednumber of ranges by using a general purpose human detection sensor andthe lens for the human detection sensor for covering the single range,and the air conditioner.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the aforementioned problem, the configuration asdescribed in the claim may be employed. An example as one of solutionsto the problem will be described as follows. An indoor unit of airconditioner includes a plurality of outlet ports through which air isblown to an interior of a room in different directions, and a humandetection unit for detecting a human in the room. The human detectionunit includes a plurality of human detection sensors installed in theplurality of outlet ports correspondingly, and lenses provided for thehuman detection sensors, respectively. The plurality of human detectionsensors detect ranges corresponding to the different outlet ports,respectively.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The present invention provides an indoor unit of an air conditionerconfigured to have a plurality of human detection sensors and lenses forcovering the respective human detection sensors. The use of generalpurpose products for the human detection sensor and the lens forcovering the single range ensures to detect the desired number ofranges. The present invention also provides the air conditioner. Anyproblem, structure and advantageous effect other than those describedabove will be clarified by the following description of the embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general view of an air conditioner according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an indoor unit according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state where an infrared transmissioncover and an infrared shielding cover of a human detection sensorsection, and a lens of the human detection sensor are removed from theindoor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state where the infrared transmissioncover and the infrared shielding cover of the human detection sensorsection are removed from the indoor unit according to the embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state where the infrared transmissioncover of the human detection sensor section is removed from the indoorunit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the human detection sensor section of theindoor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the human detection sensor section of theindoor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a detection range covered by the humandetection sensor of the indoor unit according to the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a state where corner covers of adecorative panel are removed from the indoor unit according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged front view showing a state where the corner coverof the decorative panel is removed from the indoor unit according to theembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a display of a remote controller according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram for controlling the indoor unit according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of an air conditioner according to the present inventionwill be described referring to FIGS. 1 to 12.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a general view of an overall structure of an air conditioneraccording to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.1, an indoor unit 1 of ceiling mount type is electrically coupled withan outdoor unit 2 via a refrigerant piping and a transmission line 3.The indoor unit 1 performs air conditioning in the room where it isinstalled. The indoor unit 1 is electrically coupled with a remotecontroller 4 via a remote control transmission line 5. The operationcommand of the indoor unit 1 is activated by the user's operation of theremote controller 4. The outdoor unit 2 includes a not shown compressorserving as a heat source, an outdoor heat exchanger for performing heatexchange between outdoor air and working fluid, and an outdoor fan forblowing air to the outdoor heat exchanger.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the indoor unit 1 when seen from below.The indoor unit 1 includes a main body part 10 and a decorative panel 11which covers the lower surface of the main body part 10, which faces theindoor side. The main body part 10 is embedded into the ceiling so thatthe decorative panel 11 is exposed from the ceiling surface. The indoorunit 1 includes an indoor fan and a heat exchanger inside, which are notshown in the drawing. The indoor fan takes in the indoor air from asuction port 22 of the indoor unit 1 so that the taken air passesthrough the heat exchanger for heat exchange between air and therefrigerant. The conditioned air is blown through four outlet ports 20 ato 20 d for air conditioning inside the room. Louvers 21 a to 21 d areconfigured to allow air blow direction of air blown from the respectiveoutlet ports 20 a to 20 d to be variable in the indoor height direction.

A human detection sensor 35 is disposed in the decorative panel 11 forthe purpose of acquiring human detection information upon air conditionwith respect to presence or absence of any human in the air conditionedspace, or the information indicating the degree of the human's motion.In the case where the human detection sensor 35 is constituted by theinfrared sensor, the sensor performs detection upon change in theinfrared light in the detection range resulting from the human motion.An indoor control section 13 (not shown) serves to change the settemperature for air conditioning, the air volume of the indoor unit, andeach angle of the louvers 21 a to 21 d based on the human detectioninformation. This makes it possible to prevent excessive cooling,excessive heating, and to improve comfort of the human in the airconditioned space.

The human detection sensor 35 obtains the detection information data ofhumans in divided sections of the air conditioned space. Therefore,there may be the case where a plurality of human detection sensors aredisposed in the single indoor unit 1. Preferably, each detection rangeof the plurality of human detection sensors is set corresponding to aircondition ranges 26 a to 26 d (see FIG. 8) of the outlet ports 20 a to20 d, respectively. Accordingly, each air condition in the respectiveair condition ranges 26 a to 26 d may be performed individually, forexample, by allowing the louver 21 a to be operated in response to thehuman detection information which covers the air condition range 26 a,the louver 21 b to be operated in response to the human detectioninformation which covers the air condition range 26 b, and the like.

Each of the air condition ranges 26 a to 26 d has a fan-like conicsection. Meanwhile, each detection range of the general purpose humandetection sensor, and the human detection sensor lens has a circularconic section. Therefore, the general purpose human detection sensor andthe lens thereof cannot be used adaptively to the air condition ranges26 a to 26 d. In other words, there may cause the problem of controllingthe louver 21 upon human detection even in the range out of the aircondition ranges 26 a to 20 d. The combination of the general purposehuman detection sensor and the lens which have the detection range withthe circular conic section may cause an overlapped section. Therefore, aplurality of human detection sensors may detect the same human in anoverlapped manner. It is necessary to use the exclusive human detectionsensor or the exclusive human detection sensor lens adapted to the aircondition ranges 26 a to 26 d, respectively. The following is thedescription of structure of the air conditioner according to theembodiment, which is configured to solve the aforementioned problem.

Structure of the human detection sensor section according to anembodiment of the present invention will be described referring to FIGS.3 to 7. FIGS. 3 to 6 are enlarged views each representing a position atwhich the human detection sensor 35 is installed in the indoor unit 1.

As FIG. 3 shows, the human detection sensor 35 is disposed on a seat 33for the human detection sensor, having a mount portion of the humandetection sensor formed at a predetermined angle. In this embodiment,four human detection sensors 35 a to 35 d are disposed.

Referring to FIG. 4, the human detection sensors 35 a to 35 d areprovided with lenses 36 a to 36 d, respectively to expand (or narrow)the respective detection ranges by refracting the incident infraredlight with the predetermined refractive index. This allows the humandetection sensors 35 a to 35 d to perform detection of the predeterminedranges, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 5, an infrared shielding cover 32 is disposed over thelenses 36 a to 36 d for shielding the light incident on the humandetection sensor 35. in a part of the range. The infrared shieldingcover 32 is configured to shield the incident light on the humandetection sensor 35 from outside an air condition range 26 (outletdirection) of the outlet port 20 corresponding to the human detectionsensor 35.

The infrared shielding cover 32 is made of a material that does nottransmit the infrared light, for example, polystyrene and iron. Theinfrared shielding cover 32 includes openings 53 a to 53 d eachpositioned corresponding to the respective human detection sensors 35.Therefore, the infrared light that has passed through the openings 53 ato 53 d of the infrared shielding cover 32 is only incident on the humandetection sensors 35 a to 35 d.

Referring to FIG. 6, an infrared transmission cover 31 is disposed overthe lenses 36 a to 36 d in consideration of both protection and designproperty of the human detection sensor. The infrared transmission cover31 is made of the material that transmits the infrared light, forexample, high density polyethylene so as not to shield the infraredlight detected by the human detection sensor 35.

Referring to FIG. 7 as a sectional view of the human detection sensorsection, the seat 33 for the human detection sensor, the human detectionsensor 35, the lens 36, the infrared shielding cover 32, and theinfrared transmission cover 31 are sequentially arranged in order fromthe inside.

The following is the description of the detection ranges 50 a to 50 d ofthe human detection sensors 35, and the shielding range of the infraredshielding cover 32 in reference to FIG. 8.

Air condition ranges 26 a to 26 d refer to ranges to which air blownfrom the outlet port 20 by the louvers 21 a to 21 d reaches. Detectionranges 50 a to 50 d refer to the ranges which allow the respective humandetection sensors 35 a to 35 d provided with the lenses 36 a to 36 d,respectively for human detection. In other words, in the aforementionedrange, the human detection sensors 35 a to 35 d, and the lenses 36 a to36 d for the human detection sensors are allowed to detect change in theinfrared light in a certain range resulting from movement of the human.Each of the detection ranges 50 a to 50 d may be the same, or differentfrom one another.

Shielding ranges 51 within the detection ranges 50 a to 50 d of thehuman detection sensors 35 a to 35 d, and the lenses 36 a to 36 d forthe human detection sensors, which are covered with the infraredshielding cover 32 do not allow detection by the human detection sensors35 a to 35 d in spite of change in the infrared light. Non-shieldingranges 52 within the detection ranges 50 a to 50 d of the humandetection sensors 35 a to 35 d, and the lenses 36 a to 36 d for thehuman detection sensors, which are covered with the infraredtransmission cover 31 allow detection by the human detection sensors 35a to 35 d in response to the change in the infrared light.

In the case of using the general purpose human detection sensor, each ofthe detection ranges 50 a to 50 d expands while forming a circular coneshape to extend to the outside of the air condition ranges 26 a to 26 das shown in FIG. 8. The infrared shielding cover 32 includes an opening53 in order to keep the detection ranges 50 a to 50 d of the respectivehuman detection sensors to be within ranges corresponding to therespective air condition ranges 26 a to 26 d. That is, the detectionranges 50 a to 50 d of the human detection sensors outside the aircondition ranges 26 a to 26 d are shielded. Referring to the detectionrange 50 c as shown in FIG. 8, the infrared shielding cover 32 serves toshield the range outside the air condition range 26, and the range as anoverlapped part between the detection range 50 c of the human detectionsensor within the air condition range 26, and the air condition ranges26 b, 26 d of the outlet ports 20 b, 20 d corresponding to the otherhuman detection sensors 35 b, 35 d so as to correspond the non-shieldingrange 52 c of the detection range 50 c to the air condition range 26 c.

The aforementioned structure allows equalization of the detection ranges50 a to 50 d of the respective human detection sensors to thecorresponding air condition ranges 26 a to 26 d substantially. In spiteof the use of the general purpose human detection sensors and the lensesthereof, each having the detection range different from the aircondition range, the human detection sensors 35 a to 35 d are capable ofdetecting humans within the corresponding air condition ranges 26 a to26 d, respectively.

As described above, the embodiment is configured to provide the lenses36 for the respective human detection sensors 35 for detection of rangescorresponding to the different outlet ports 20, and to further shieldthe detection ranges 50 of the human detection sensor 35 outside the aircondition ranges 26 by using the infrared shielding cover 32. This makesit possible to ensure desired detection range by using the generalpurpose products.

Second Embodiment

In this embodiment, the following is the description with respect to thecase of changing the mount portion of the corner cover 30 with the humandetection sensors having the detection ranges adapted to the aircondition ranges 26 a to 26 d, respectively.

FIG. 12 is a general view showing an overall structure of theembodiment. The description of the same features as those of the firstembodiment will be omitted. In the case where the human detectioninformation data 62 a to 62 d of the air conditioned space isdivisionally acquired, the human detection sensors 35 a to 35 d send therespective human detection information data 62 a to 62 d to an indoorcontrol section 13 by which the louvers 63 a to 63 d corresponding tothe respective human detection information data 62 a to 62 d areoperated. At this time, the louver 21 a of the outlet port, the aircondition range 26 a corresponding to the outlet port 20 a, and thehuman detection sensor 35 a are arranged facing the same direction. Thelouver 21 a of the outlet port is operated in accordance with the humandetection information 62 a of the human detection sensor 35 a. In thesimilar manner, the louvers 21 b, 21 c, 21 d of the outlet ports areoperated in accordance with the human detection sensors 35 b, 35 c, 35d, respectively.

In the aforementioned case, the corner cover 30 with human detectionsensor is not allowed to change its position from the initial cornercover mount portion. Assuming that the initial corner cover mountportion 24 a is installed at the position corresponding to 24 b, thelouver 21 b of the outlet port will be operated in accordance with thehuman detection information 62 a of the human detection sensor 35 a,thus shifting the correlation between the human detection sensor and thelouver by the angle of 90°. In such a case, the position of the cornercover 30 with the human detection sensor cannot be changed in theon-site work. Meanwhile, in the case where the plurality of indoor units1 are disposed in the same space, there may be the case of requiring tochange the position of the corner cover 30 for consistency from thedesign aspect.

In this embodiment, the corner cover 30 with human detection sensor isconfigured to be mountable on any of the corner cover mount portions 24a to 24 d as FIG. 9 shows. The other corner cover 23 is also mountableon any of the mount portions 24 a to 24 d. The corner cover 30 withhuman detection sensor has substantially the same shape as that of thecorner cover 23, both of which have mount portions corresponding to themount portions 24 a to 24 d.

The remote controller 4 has set items 60 for remote control, whilehaving options 61 corresponding to the set item 60. Referring to anexample of FIG. 11, “b1” is selected as the set item 60, and “00” is setas the option 61. The option 61 includes “01”, “02”, “03” in addition to“00”. The set item 60 set as “b1” may be expressed as an arbitrary code,or arbitrarily expressed as, for example, “sensor mount position”.

In the similar manner as described above, the option 61 may be expressedas arbitrary codes, for example, A to D. In this case, it is onlynecessary to determine the set items 60 and the options 61. The option61 may be changed upon the on-site work.

In the case where the option 61 is set to “00”, the indoor controlsection uses the human detection information 62 a of the human detectionsensor to operate the louver 21 a, the human detection information 62 bof the human detection sensor to operate the louver 21 b, the humandetection information 62 c of the human detection sensor to operate thelouver 21 c, and the human detection information 62 d of the humandetection sensor to operate the louver 21 d, respectively.

In the case where the option 61 is set to “01”, the indoor unit controlsection uses the human detection information 62 a of the human detectionsensor to operate the louver 21 b, the human detection information 62 bof the human detection sensor to operate the louver 21 c, the humandetection information 62 c of the human detection sensor to operate thelouver 21 d, and the human detection information 62 d of the humandetection sensor to operate the louver 21 a, respectively.

In the case where the option 61 is set to “02”, the indoor controlsection uses the human detection information 62 a of the human detectionsensor to operate the louver 21 c, the human detection information 62 bof the human detection sensor to operate the louver 21 d, the humandetection information 62 c of the human detection sensor to operate thelouver 21 a, and the human detection information 62 d of the humandetection sensor to operate the louver 21 b, respectively.

In the case where the option 61 is set to “03”, the indoor controlsection uses the human detection information 62 a of the human detectionsensor to operate the louver 21 d, the human detection information 62 bof the human detection sensor to operate the louver 21 a, the humandetection information 62 c of the human detection sensor to operate thelouver 21 b, and the human detection information 62 d of the humandetection sensor to operate the louver 21 c, respectively.

In the case where the corner cover 30 with human detection sensor ismounted on the corner cover mount portion 24 a, the structure accordingto the embodiment becomes operable by setting the option 61 to “00”.Likewise, in the case where the corner cover is mounted on the cornercover mount portion 24 b, 24 c, or 24 b, the structure becomes operableby setting the option 61 to “01”, “02”, or “03”, respectively.

The aforementioned embodiment is configured to allow shifting of the setarrangement correlation between the human detection sensor and thelouver at every 90° so as to ensure change in the position of the cornercover 30 with human detection sensor from the initial corner cover mountportion. The indoor control section 13 is configured to control thearrangement correlation between the plurality of human detection sensors35 and the plurality of outlet ports 20. Upon installation of theplurality of indoor units 1 in the same space, the use of theaforementioned indoor control section allows change in the position ofthe corner cover 30 in the case of the on-site work for consistency fromthe design aspect.

Marks 25 from A to D are provided at the corner cover mount portions 24a to 24 d on the decorative panel 11, respectively so as to allow theoption 61 for the set items of the remote controller 4 to be similarlyset to A to D, respectively. In the case where the corner cover 30 withhuman detection sensor is disposed over any one of the corner covermount portions 24 a to 24 d, which is marked A, the on-site work may befurther simplified by selecting “A” as the option 61 for the set item.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments as describedabove, but includes various modifications. For example, the embodimentsare described in detail for readily understanding of the presentinvention which is not necessarily limited to the one equipped with allstructures as described above. It is possible to replace a part of thestructure of one embodiment with the structure of another embodiment.The one embodiment may be provided with an additional structure ofanother embodiment. It is further possible to add, remove, and replacethe other structure to, from and with a part of the structure of therespective embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

1: indoor unit

2: outdoor unit

3: refrigerant piping and transmission line

4: remote controller

5: remote control transmission line

10: main body part of indoor unit

11: decorative panel

12: display of remote controller

13: indoor control section

20, 20 a, 20 b, 20 c, 20 d: outlet port

21, 21 a, 21 b, 21 c, 21 d: louver

22: suction port

23: corner cover

24, 24 a, 24 b, 24 c, 24 d: corner cover mount portion

25: corner cover mark

26, 26 a, 26 b, 26 c, 26 d: air condition range

30: corner cover with human detection sensor

31: infrared transmission cover

32: infrared shielding cover

33: seat for human detection sensor

35, 35 a, 35 b, 35 c, 35 d: human detection sensor

36, 36 a, 36 n, 36 c, 36 d: lens

50, 50 a, 50 n, 50 c, 50 d: detection range

51, 51 a, 51 b, 51 c, 51 d: shielding range

52, 52 a, 52 b, 52 c, 52 d: non-shielding range

53, 53 a, 53 b, 53 c, 53 d: opening

60: set item for remote controller

61: option of set item for remote controller

62, 62 a, 62 b, 62 c, 62 d: human detection information of humandetection sensor

63, 63 a, 63 b, 63 c, 63 d: operation output of louver

1. An indoor unit of air conditioner, comprising a plurality of outletports through which air is blown to an interior of a room in differentdirections, and a human detection unit for detecting a human in theroom, wherein: the human detection unit includes a plurality of humandetection sensors installed in the plurality of outlet portscorrespondingly, and lenses provided for the human detection sensors,respectively; and the plurality of human detection sensors detect rangescorresponding to the different outlet ports, respectively.
 2. The indoorunit of air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the humandetection unit includes a shielding cover that shields a light rayincident on the human detection sensor in a part of the range.
 3. Theindoor unit of air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the humandetection unit includes a shielding cover that shields a light rayincident on the human detection sensor, which is incident on a rangeother than an air condition range of the outlet port corresponding tothe human detection sensor.
 4. The indoor unit of air conditioneraccording to claim 1, comprising a shielding cover that shields a rangeas an overlapped part between a detection range of one of the pluralityof human detection sensors and an air condition range of the outlet portcorresponding to the other human detection sensor.
 5. The indoor unit ofair conditioner according to claim 1, wherein: the human detection unitincludes a shielding cover for shielding a light ray incident on thehuman detection sensor; and the shielding cover has openings atpositions corresponding to the plurality of human detection sensors,respectively.
 6. The indoor unit of air conditioner according to claim2, wherein the human detection unit includes an infrared transmissioncover that is made of an infrared transmitting material for covering theplurality of human detection sensors, the lenses, and the shieldingcover.
 7. The indoor unit of air conditioner according to claim 1,comprising a decorative panel applied to a part of a housing as a mainbody part of the indoor unit, which is exposed to the interior of theroom, a plurality of corner covers provided for corners of thedecorative panel, and a plurality of mount portions to which the cornercovers are attached, wherein: the human detection unit is installed inany one of the plurality of corner covers; and each of the plurality ofcorner covers is allowed to be mounted on any one of the mountedportions.
 8. The indoor unit of air conditioner according to claim 7,comprising a control unit which controls an arrangement correlationbetween the human detection sensors and the outlet ports.
 9. An airconditioner comprising the indoor unit according to claim 1.